Xiao Genzi had run over to Li Banfeng's place to reclaim land, leaving Li Banfeng thoroughly shocked.
Seeing him hoist the bucket, shock alone no longer covered it.
"Genzi, what are you doing here reclaiming land?" Li Banfeng pressed his hands downward repeatedly, motioning for him to put the bucket down first.
Strapping the bucket onto his back, Genzi said with a solemn face, "Seventh Master, isn't this the fine place you told me about? It might be rather remote, but there's food nearby. Brother Zhang and I want to do business, so this place is an absolute fit."
Zhang Wanlong gave a dry cough from the side, signaling Genzi not to say too much.
This was completely unnecessary of him. No matter the matter, Genzi could never hide anything from Li Seven.
"And this would be Brother Zhang?" Li Banfeng looked toward Zhang Wanlong.
Zhang Wanlong hurriedly took off his sun hat and smiled at Li Banfeng. "I am Zhang Wanlong. Genzi and I only met recently, but we hit it off right away and became friends."
Li Banfeng didn't care how they had become friends; what he cared about was their business.
Judging from Zhang Wanlong's face, words, and demeanor, the man had vastly more life experience than Genzi.
"What was that business you two mentioned just now...?"
"Nothing much, really. Coming here is mainly for cultivation." Zhang Wanlong tried to brush it off.
Li Banfeng pointed toward Meng Yuchun's territory. "If you want to cultivate, you ought to head that way. The food is over on that domain, and there are plenty of people there to look out for one another."
Genzi shook his head. "We can't go there. Brother Zhang said it wouldn't do for other people to see our business."
Zhang Wanlong looked rather awkward.
Li Banfeng asked Genzi, "What business can't be seen by others?"
Xiao Genzi lowered his voice. "We came to make people."
Li Banfeng looked at Xiao Genzi, then at Zhang Wanlong, and asked in all seriousness, "How are the two of you going to make them?"
Zhang Wanlong waved his hands frantically. "Seventh Master, you've misunderstood! Genzi is just fond of joking. We can't make people."
Genzi hoisted the bucket. "We can! As long as we have the ingredients, we can!"
"Genzi, put the bucket down," Li Banfeng urged with heartfelt earnestness. "I don't think your ingredients are quite suited for making people."
Zhang Wanlong shook his head. "Seventh Master, let's put the making-people thing aside for a moment. What we really want is to clear a plot here and grow a few things."
Xiao Genzi said, "Brother Zhang is a Tillage Cultivator. He can grow all kinds of good things, but if crops are to thrive, they have to be in the newland, and they need my night soil. I figured we ought to pick a quiet spot in the newland, so I chose this place."
Genzi had chosen this spot after careful deliberation.
In truth, he could have picked a place near Zhengjing Village, but he hadn't, because he didn't trust Zhang Wanlong and didn't want to bring trouble upon Zhengjing Village.
With so much newland, why not pick just any barren plot?
Because if he picked a random spot and Zhang Wanlong turned on him, Genzi might die without ever knowing what killed him.
This was a place Li Seven had recommended. The local spirit here might be an acquaintance of Li Seven's; even if Genzi truly lost his life, Li Seven would at least receive word of it.
Piecing all of this together, Li Banfeng understood Genzi's reasoning.
Li Banfeng turned to Zhang Wanlong. "Brother Zhang, you say you've come to grow things. What sort of fine things are you planting? Could you let me take a look?"
Zhang Wanlong smiled modestly. "Just little trifles, hardly worth mentioning. But since Seventh Master asks, please allow me to display my meager skill."
Zhang Wanlong scattered a seed onto the ground and dripped a few drops of medicinal liquid onto it.
Ten minutes or so later, the seed broke through the soil, sprouted, and grew into a sapling over a foot tall.
Li Banfeng had seen Herb Cultivators before; when an Herb Cultivator used their arts, trees grew even faster than this, so this trick was nothing astonishing.
He touched the sapling, only to hear the little tree let out the voice of a delicate young woman:
"Gently..."
Li Banfeng froze.
The tree could speak.
Li Banfeng hadn't used Perceiving Spiritual Voices, nor had he used the Thread-Hook Earring.
He had heard it with absolute clarity: the little tree was indeed speaking.
Xiao Genzi said, "Seventh Master, I wasn't boasting. Brother Zhang really is a capable man."
Li Banfeng stared at the sapling for a long time.
He had seen speaking trees before; there were plenty in the territories of Shui Yongquan and Qiu Luoye.
However, none of those anomalies had simple origins. Some had been human in life, and cultivators of no low tier at that; after death, their souls reached the newland, adhered to trees, and turned into anomalies.
Others had originally been ordinary trees steeped in the newland for many years until developing sapience and becoming anomalies.
Yet according to Shui Yongquan, trees of that kind had to grow for at least a century before they might develop sapience, and whether they could learn to speak depended on having the right fortuitous chance.
For Zhang Wanlong to cultivate something so bizarre—speaking after barely ten minutes—his methods were truly remarkable.
And this reminded Li Banfeng of an exceedingly bizarre matter:
Watermelons that could fight wars.
Li Banfeng looked at Zhang Wanlong and asked, "Brother Zhang, where did you make your fortune before?"
Zhang Wanlong shook his head and laughed. "Fortune? Hardly. I wander wherever the wind blows, just scraping by."
"Modest, Brother Zhang. 'Tillage Cultivators suffer and toil till they come of age, rising at Tier Five as dukes and lords.' From the looks of it, your cultivation was well past Tier Five long ago. I'd wager you're not even on the ground-crust anymore, are you?"
Zhang Wanlong waved his hands repeatedly. "Seventh Master, you flatter and shame me. My cultivation is nothing to show off; I wouldn't dare boast before you."
Genzi said to Li Banfeng, "I got on the train at Yaowanggou, and not long after it started moving, I met Brother Zhang."
This was his way of letting Li Banfeng know that Zhang Wanlong had most likely come from Yaowanggou as well.
Zhang Wanlong said, "We just want to find a quiet place to grow some flowers and plants to sell to others as amusing playthings. Beyond that, I really don't have any skills."
Li Banfeng looked at the sapling. "This is for amusement?"
Genzi nodded. "It can relieve boredom! Brother Zhang has a potted flower that's much smarter than this tree. That flower chatters non-stop every day and understands people wonderfully."
While speaking, Genzi kept his eyes fixed on Li Banfeng.
Genzi knew Zhang Wanlong had genuine ability, and was also someone extremely difficult to deal with.
Even though he knew this was dangerous, Genzi hoped Li Banfeng would give him an opportunity—a chance to keep associating with Zhang Wanlong, because Zhang Wanlong could bring him unimaginable opportunities.
Li Banfeng nodded. "Genzi, meeting a capable man like Brother Zhang, you should learn all you can from him. I have other matters to attend to, so you stay here and reclaim land with Brother Zhang. But let's be clear on one thing: in this territory, you cannot use your method to reclaim land."
Genzi looked at his bucket. "Seventh Master, what's wrong with my method?"
"Your method is liable to anger the local spirit. It's only a single li of wasteland anyway; Brother Zhang surely has ways of his own."
Zhang Wanlong nodded repeatedly. "I also think Genzi's method is ill-suited. Even if the plot were reclaimed, it would be awful to clean up afterward."
Li Banfeng glanced at the sapling Zhang Wanlong had planted, lowered the brim of his hat, turned, and walked away.
Was this sapling truly just for amusement?
What a joke.
Li Banfeng was certain that once these saplings grew up, their combat prowess would not be inferior in the slightest to those watermelons at the Geng Family Medicine Shop.
This Zhang Wanlong was likely the good-for-nothing Tillage Cultivator disciple Old Xu had mentioned.
Could he be allowed to stay and reclaim land in his territory?
That depended on how one looked at it.
Drawing Old Xu's attention proved that Zhang Wanlong possessed formidable strength. With his helpers, Li Banfeng could drive him off the territory, but killing him would certainly be anything but easy.
Would driving him away do any good?
None.
He could find another territory to reclaim, and go on planting these exotic flora.
And if conflict broke out, Zhang Wanlong would likely kill Genzi first.
From the look of things right now, Zhang Wanlong hadn't shown any malice, so the situation could still be observed.
There were simply too many things a local spirit had to handle. Li Banfeng rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.
Returning to the Portable Abode, Li Banfeng told his wife, "The plot was successfully reclaimed, and two more groups have come to reclaim land."
"Congratulations, Husband. The territory is flourishing day by day; this is a good thing."
"A good thing it may be, but with more people comes more trouble. If I'm not near the territory in the future, how will these matters be handled?"
His wife had already planned ahead for Li Banfeng: "That depends on whether Husband cherishes the reputation of this territory. If Husband cares nothing for reputation, you can simply leave the plots here and pay them no heed."
"If someone who successfully reclaims land calls on me for help, should I ignore them as well?"
"That depends on luck. If that person is lucky and encounters Meng Yuchun, Meng Yuchun would likely lend a hand, and afterward, Husband could share some of the territory's cultivation with her as remuneration."
"And what if they don't run into Meng Yuchun?"
"Then they can only blame their poor luck and fend for themselves. If they offer blood and cry out for help, yet the local spirit gives no response, the reputation of this territory will be ruined."
This wouldn't do.
If those who successfully reclaimed land received no protection from the local spirit, who would ever want to come here to reclaim land again?
"Aiya, Wife, I still cherish the reputation of this territory very much."
"If Husband cherishes your reputation, then you cannot travel far. Over this hundred li of land, Husband must guard it diligently. Enemies you can handle, you deal with yourself; those you cannot, immediately seek Meng Yuchun's help. Given Husband's speed, doing so shouldn't be difficult."
Li Banfeng sniffed. "Am I really that fast?"
"Your humble servant means that Husband can use the Sprawling Compound skill to borrow some techniques from Hong Ying."
Hong Ying nodded eagerly. "Seventh Brother, as long as you ask, anything's fine! Just tell me first, how do you run two businesses at once..."
Smack!
The gramophone slapped a cleaning rag right across Hong Ying's face, then said to Li Banfeng, "Gains and losses, pros and cons—Husband must weigh them carefully. Forcibly claiming a status is inherently an arduous task; the slightest slip could ruin everything you have achieved."
Weigh them carefully.
It was not an easy thing to weigh.
The next afternoon, Li Banfeng emerged from the Portable Abode and went to inspect He Yuxiu's plot.
He Yuxiu had already prepared for the trial. Youtao followed behind her, asking solicitously, "It's three whole days once we go. Why don't we wash up before heading out?"
"No need," He Yuxiu said, shaking her head. This girl named Youtao was a little too enthusiastic.
She was very diligent. Yesterday, she hadn't just drawn hot water; she had also helped He Yuxiu wash from head to toe, scrubbing every single spot with utmost thoroughness. Even now, thinking back on it sent tingling waves of numbness across He Yuxiu's skin.
Once inside the boundaries, before long, the first anomaly arrived for the trial.
To dare reclaim three li of territory, the land reclaimer naturally possessed considerable strength, and the caliber of anomaly bold enough to test them was correspondingly distinct.
This time, what came was a mosquito—a mosquito roughly the size of Youtao herself.
Despite its huge build, the mosquito acted with extreme caution.
Spreading its membranous wings, it flattened itself against the ground, blending seamlessly into the dead branches and fallen leaves without a hint of movement.
Creeping forward all the way, the mosquito slipped into the plot, entirely unnoticed by He Yuxiu and Youtao.
This mosquito was remarkably patient. Flattened beside Youtao, it waited for two full hours without making a move.
Seeing the two grow somewhat lax and their attention wander, the mosquito soundlessly rose, aiming its long needle right at the back of Youtao's head, and plunged it down.
Had this strike landed, venom wouldn't even be necessary—the physical trauma alone would have killed Youtao.
As the needle closed on strands of hair, He Yuxiu reached out, snatched the mosquito's long needle, and gave her wrist a flick, snapping it on the spot.
Terrified, the mosquito flapped its wings in a bid to flee.
With a casual toss, He Yuxiu threw the snapped needle, impaling the mosquito straight through the head.
The mosquito perished instantly. He Yuxiu kicked the carcass and chuckled. "Creatures of this tier dare to conduct a trial? The anomalies in this territory don't amount to much!"
Li Banfeng felt personally mocked.
Youtao showered her with praise: "Older Sister, you're amazing! Have some water, Sister. Eat something, Sister. You're sweating, Sister, let me wipe it off for you."
He Yuxiu took the handkerchief. "I can wipe it myself. Don't go reaching inside my clothes."
Li Banfeng took his leave. There was no need to watch the trial here; for someone of He Yuxiu's caliber, the anomalies here weren't worth looking at either.
Over on Genzi's side, offerings had been prepared. Li Banfeng had truly worried Genzi might set that bucket on the altar table.
Fortunately, Zhang Wanlong was a man of propriety; on the altar sat a flagon of corn liquor, giving off an enticing aroma.
Li Banfeng didn't dare drink it. He accepted the liquor and lit up the plot.
Come the second day, Li Banfeng grasped the Judge's Brush and flew over the plot to see how they went about reclaiming the land.
He saw no sign of Genzi, only Zhang Wanlong holding a hoe and tilling the soil.
Where was Genzi?
Li Banfeng's heart tightened. Scanning the area above the plot for a moment, he spotted Genzi lying silently in the wild grass at the center of the plot.
What was going on?
Li Banfeng looked back at Zhang Wanlong, who was still farming. A leech over five meters long, curling its body, was crawling toward him, yet Zhang Wanlong appeared completely oblivious.
The leech crawled behind Zhang Wanlong, reared up abruptly, and swallowed Zhang Wanlong's head in one gulp.
Zhang Wanlong's body withered in an instant. The segments of the leech rippled like rolling waves, trembling layer upon layer as it sucked dry Zhang Wanlong's flesh and blood.
In less than a minute, only a shriveled sack of skin was left of Zhang Wanlong on the ground.
The leech sniffed around, seemingly catching a scent, and slithered toward Genzi.
Genzi remained motionless, without the slightest trace of fear on his face.
When it was still twenty to thirty meters from Genzi, the leech reared up once more.
What was it doing?
Attacking Genzi?
The distance was clearly wrong.
The leech plunged its head into the soil, then whipped it back up, violent wave after wave rippling through its body.
It curled and uncurled repeatedly, writhing in excruciating agony.
On its coarse black skin, slight bulges appeared, and a tender green sprout burst through the surface.
The sprout grew rapidly, its rootlets piercing through the leech's skin one after another and burrowing into the ground.
The green stem grew thicker and thicker, leaves multiplying in abundance, stems and leaves tangling together on the leech's body until they formed a round eggplant over a meter in diameter.
The eggplant slowly split open. Zhang Wanlong crawled out from inside, hoe in hand, and resumed tilling the soil.
On the ground, the leech was still struggling as more roots, stems, and leaves continuously burst from its body.
Before long, the foliage formed another eggplant, and yet another Zhang Wanlong, hoe in hand, crawled out of it.
This was not the real Zhang Wanlong.
This was a "Zhang Wanlong" grown by Zhang Wanlong himself.
The real Zhang Wanlong rose from the overgrown grass, fiddling with the seeds in his hand.
PS: Tillage Cultivators suffer and toil till they come of age; this is what a high-tier Tillage Cultivator looks like.
Chapter 377